quently heard, that the secret chamber is approached by a passage duly closed with masonry after every visit.

"This latter conclusion may or may not be correct, but the existence of a mystery of some kind concealed within a secret chamber is fairly well made out."

No wonder that this writer asks, and many others repeat the question, "What is this mystery?" Of all the many attempted hypotheses not one may be deemed conclusive; but few probable, or even possible. It has been suggested, contrary to the proven facts [if proof were needed], that the beautiful and unfortunate Lady Glamis, the supposed witch, the victim of acknowledged perjury, who perished amid the flames on Castle Hill, at Edinburgh, was actually in commerce with the Evil One, and that her familiar demon, an embodied and visible fiend, endures unto this day, shut from the light, in Glamis Castle!"

66

Another wild suggestion is, that owing to some hereditary curse, like those believed to rest on many wellknown families, at certain intervals a kind of vampire is born into the family of the Strathmore Lyons. It is scarcely possible to destroy this monstrosity; it is, therefore, kept concealed till its term of life is run. But, it might be remembered, even monsters need nourishment, and this secret chamber at Glamis is only visited once in a generation. Other theories and suggestions are equally unfortunate, and no probable solution of the mystery has yet been given.

Thus far we have shown that strange sights and stranger sounds are reported upon good authority to

have been seen and heard at Glamis.

Moreover, it may be assumed that there is a family secret, concealed within the depths of the old castle, and that the facts about it are never known to more than three persons. The three persons who have to hide within their bosoms this grim secret are the Earl of Strathmore for the time being, the heir-apparent, if he have attained his majority, and the "factor," or, as he might be termed in England, the house steward. On the night before he attains his twenty-first birthday, the heir, who bears the courtesy title of Lord Glamis, is solemnly initiated in the terrible mystery by the reigning Earl and his factor, and this secret he has to preserve until the majority of his own son, or, if he remain sonless, till the coming of age of his heir presumptive, and till the appointment of another factor to the property.

"Why the factor should be instructed in this terrible matter," says one of our authorities, "is a question which has excited, and continues to excite, the Caledonian mind to a remarkable degree. If the office of factor were hereditary, there would be an apparent reason for taking such an important functionary into the family confidence. But this is not the case in Scotland as 8 rule. In fact, the balance of experience is very greatly on the other side. The factor is sometimes a poor relation of a great house, but frequently a retired officer or a country gentleman unconnected with his employers by ties of blood. There is nothing in the occupation of a factor greatly in excess of that of an agent, saving that he is resident on the property instead of living in

the nearest large town. There is no reason why the connection between employer and factor should not be brought to an end at any time by individual or mutual dissatisfaction. There is, however, no record of any factor having disclosed any inkling of the Mystery of Glamis. As a Strathmore a Strathmore succeeds, there is generally much talk of the old story being exploded at last. Gay gallants in lace ruffles, beaus, bucks, bloods, and dandies have, until their twenty-first birthday, made light of the family mystery, and some have gone so far as to make after-dinner promises to 'hoist the old ghost with his own petard,' and tell the whole stupid old story in the smoking-room at night, after the coming of age humbug was all over. This promise has been made more than once. . . But it has never been kept. No heir to the Strathmore peerage has revealed the secret. On the morrow, when all looked for an explanation of the terrible mystery, they were met by a courteous but cold refusal; a simple statement that the fulfilment of the rash promise was impossible, a request to say no more about it, and thus the matter has ended," and so the Mystery of Glamis Castle remains a mystery still.

GUILDFORD GRAMMAR SCHOOL.

AT the conclusion of an entertaining paper entitled "A Winter's Night with my Old Books," the late Albert Smith gives a short account of an apparition which appeared at Guildford Grammar School; and it is

the more interesting from the fact that, having thrown discredit upon all the ghostly legends of the old writers, Lilly, Aubrey, Glanvil, and the rest, its writer adduces this as a story for which he can personally vouch. It originally appeared in Bentley's Miscellany, vol. xxv. p. 100, and was reprinted in "Dead Leaves," a posthumous publication of the well-known popular entertainer and author. It should be pointed out, however, that in this latter work, the initial of the youth who saw the spirit of the deceased huntsman is given as "Young M—," instead of as "Young K-,” as given in the present narrative.

I mentioned, remarks Albert Smith, that I had a ghost story, hitherto unpublished, to tell of Guildford. "About ten years ago my brother was a pupil at the Grammar School in that town. The boys had been sitting up all night in their bed-room for a frolic, and, in the early morning, one of them, young K————, of Godalming, cried out, Why, I'll swear there's the likeness of our old huntsman on his grey horse going across the white-washed wall!' The rest of the boys told him he was a fool, and that all had better think about going to sleep. After breakfast a servant came over from K's family to say that their old huntsman had been thrown from his horse and killed, early that morning, whilst airing the hounds.""

Albert Smith adds: "Leaving the reader to explain this strange story, which may be relied upon, I put my old books back on their shelves, and lay aside my pen."

153

HAMPTON COURT.

IN the week's issue of All the Year Round for 22nd June 1867, was published a paper entitled "Is it Possible?" This communication is supposed to have been made by Dr. Phillimore. Whoever the author was, he refers to his mother as a daughter of "Sir G(eorge) P(rescott), of Theobald's Park, Herts," and in a note subjoined to the story by Dickens is alluded to as "the esteemed writer." The story is in every way so curious, so startling, and so strongly vouched for, that it should be given in the narrator's own words, which are to this effect:

was

66 Several years ago the brother of Colonel Ckilled in battle, leaving a widow and one little girl. The widow subsequently married a German baron, and the little girl, Maud, was brought up entirely in Germany. The latter was about twelve years old when her mother, being attacked with an illness that threatened to prove fatal, became very uneasy about the probable future of her child; and feeling, one evening, more depressed than usual, called the little Maud to her bed-side, warned her that their parting was near, and enjoined the weeping girl to write immediately to Mrs. B (a friend of many years' standing), entreating her to come at once to receive her last embrace, and take charge of her orphan child.

"Maud obeyed without delay, but the dying woman's eyes were not gladdened by the appearance of her friend.